Land cover maps depict where and how much of a region is covered by forests, wetlands, development, and other natural and man-made features. Documenting changes in the landscape can alert communities to emerging trends, information that is useful when predicting and assessing cumulative impacts in the light of climate stressors, such as sea level rise.

The Wetland and Stream Mitigation: A Handbook for Land Trusts was created by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Environmental Law Institute and the Land Trust Alliance to provide land trusts with a starting point for understanding the opportunities and liabilities associated with taking on a compensatory mitigation project